


Brooding Brothers

by TalysAlankil



Series: Brooding Series [3]
Category: Assassin's Creed, Brewdening Love, Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-29
Updated: 2014-02-11
Packaged: 2018-01-14 10:49:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1263511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TalysAlankil/pseuds/TalysAlankil
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A sequel to Brooding Lust and Brooding Impostor; a retelling of the trollfic "The Assassin's Diaries". Our heroes are on the run after defeating one of the most powerful vampire covens, with for only objective the hunt of the last of the Volturi. But the Organization rises again, weakened, but still powerful.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

As he walked through the streets of Cairo in the afternoon sun, Dan couldn't remember ever being to Egypt before; which was ironic, considering his parents and he were Egyptians. Now he was on his own, with his adopted sister, Becca, their parents presumed dead and a third of the Organization turned against them.

It had all started with the Cullens. Being assigned to infiltrating the coven had sounded like a promising task, one that would help Dan climb up the ladder; and, for a while, it had been just that. It even proved more effective than expected when Esme Cullen offered an unexpected alliance, and killed the Leader for him, forcing the Pope, the second-in-command, to establish Dan as the new Leader.

Of course, such a quick rise to powers had attracted antagonism from within the ranks of the Organization itself. A secret society made up almost entirely of powerful men and women, and lusting after more power through the use of the supernatural, would not take a young Leader that well. But the fear of the vampiric witch, Esme Cullen had been enough to keep them at bay, and to let Dan make his own alliances.

Dan was very thankful for his insight, because a few days later, Esme was dead, her coven annihilated, and the Pope decided to take back what was rightfully his. A third of the Organization followed him — a thankfully small fraction, and much less than Dan had expected, but most of the highest ranking members were part of the dissenters.

However, the Pope had control of the Organization's headquarters, and some of their more advanced technology. Dan's side was far from powerless, but it had also lost much. And to make up for that, Dan had had to travel to Egypt.

He had only heard rumors of the forces that kept the supernatural in check in all of Africa, similar to how the Cullens had kept North America in their iron grasp: the Ennead. Old creatures, worshipped as gods by the Egyptians millennia ago — and their species was still named gods, even today. If vampires and werewolves were victims of magic, both affected by a magical mutation, the former through a virus, the latter directly to their own system, and witches were channeling the magic surrounding them, gods were in control of magic; some even said they were its source.

Dan was not perfectly sure what to believe of these rumors, but the Ennead were the only gods who were still openly active, and with the Cullens dead, and, since a few days ago, the Volturi were in chaos, the gods were definitely the most powerful faction in the supernatural world. Dan needed allies and they were his best choice.

As he approached the ruined temple of Ra, his cellphone rang. He glanced at the screen to see Becca was the one calling. "Missed me already, sis?" he said, trying his best to keep a light-hearted tone. Becca had not been involved with the Organization until Dan's rise to power, and just a few days later, their parents went missing before they could board the plan that would get them to reunite with their children. Since then, Becca had forced Dan to accept her help, but he knew his sister well enough to know she was devastated, even six months later.

"Not really," she replied dryly. "I have a lot of work here while you're out visiting archaeological sites."

"You know what I'm doing—"

"Yes, yes, and it's important. But you also wanted any information we could gather on the remains of the Volturi, didn't you? Well, it seems we've located Sulpicia."

"Really?" Dan had not expected that the first they would hear of was the last remaining leader of the Italian coven. "Where?"

"Somewhere in Virginia. It's not entirely clear: I don't think she's settled yet."

Dan pondered the information. They didn't have any strong implementation in Virginia; but an idea quickly formed in his mind. "Send one of the Assassins." They were a sect of professional assassins and spies, affiliated to the Organization for a few centuries, and located in Massachusetts. That would be close enough. "Tell them we need Sulpicia alive; for now, they just need to keep an eye on her. If everything goes smoothly today, we'll leave Cairo soon and join them to start an actual operation."

"Actually…" Becca started, sounding embarrassed, "they already have a man going there."

"What?" Dan let out. The Assassins had supported him so far. Had they suddenly switched sides and pledged loyalty to the Pope?

"It's not what you think. It's… they said it's some sort of loose cannon who decided to go there on his own as soon as he heard about Sulpicia."

"What's his name?"

"Alex Miles."

"Can you contact him?"

"Yes. And they said he should at least be somewhat obedient. He's still very young"

"Why did they let him _go_?" Dan erupted. The Assassins tended to view obedience and loyalty as very important

"He's part of the Animus project. The genetic improvements. He's also one of the most successful subjects, from what I gathered. I'm not sure they could really stop him if they wanted to. Not without killing him, at least."

Dan sighed. "All right. Try to see if you can keep him in check. Talk to you later." He hang up as he found the hidden entrance in the ruins, bearing the mark of the _Wadjet_ , the Eye of Horus, in a shimmering web of light that vanished as he walked through it. A door closed right behind him.

A torch was stuck in the wall next to him, already lit, but barely pushing back the darkness now that there was no daylight coming in. It had taken months to find the Ennead and have an audience with them, and even then, they had only agreed to meeting Dan alone.

He followed the single path, leading him deeper underground. He estimated he walked for about twenty minutes, following the twists and turns of the hallway until he was completely disoriented, until he reached a larger, natural-looking cavern. Far above him, he could hear running water, and wondered if that was the Nile itself he was hearing. He crossed a bridge to find a large doorway, and walked through it.

The room he reached was massive, a mix of a tomb and a throne room — fittingly enough, if he was on the left bank of the Nile as he thought, which was traditionally the domain of the dead in Ancient Egypt. Nine sarcophagi, tall enough that he could stand in them and long enough for several men to lie in them, were lined against the walls, four on each side of him, and one directly across the room, and nine empty golden thrones, each one decorated differently, floated above him in a circle, held in the air in defiance of the law of gravity.

As he advanced in the room, the thrones moved, reorganizing into a half-circle, facing him. Then, the sound of wind came to Dan's ears — even though he knew there shouldn't be any wind so far beneath the earth — and his torch was blown, leaving him completely in the dark.


	2. Prologue

Alexandre Hawke Jacob Miles was the best Assassin there was. Anyone who would say otherwise was either an idiot, or soon to be dead. Sometimes both. And yet, he had never been allowed to go on a field team, at the age of seventeen. Seventeen! He was pretty much an adult already, but his dad, their Mentor, had kept him at their order's farm, saying he needed to learn "subordination". As if! Assassins were all about freedom, and they both knew that.

So when Alex has overheard a conversation between his dad and his older brother, Desmond, about how a high-ranking vampire was in Virginia, he had made his choice and run for it. He had barely met any resistance from other Assassins as he was taking a bag full of weapons, then had jumped on a bike, and left at high speed.

At some point in the evening, as he was taking a break near Baltimore, some girl had called him. Becca Borgia, she had said she was — a name he knew all too well. Even he knew to respect the new Leader and his sister. They had reached an arrangement: that Alex would only watch for Sulpicia Volturi and wait for Ms Borgia and the Leader to join him. She had even arranged an appointment for him with a real estate agent, who would rent them a house in the area where Sulpicia Volturi was apparently staying.

However, the appointment was only in the morning, and Alex had no intention of wasting time in a motel on the road. He wanted to explore the town he would be staying in, Mystic Falls, as soon as possible. Ms Borgia had told him she had selected this particular town because a small coven of vampires lived there. That meant either they were friends of Sulpicia, and she would come to them, making it easy to find her, or they weren't, in which case Alex could recruit them to the Organization's cause.

When Alex arrived in town, it was already around midnight, and after a few minutes of search, he found only one establishment still open: the Mystic Grill, which, in spite of its name, was a bar as much as it was a diner.

Alex walked up to the counter and ordered a glass of red vodka, confident that he wouldn't be asked for an ID — one of his favorite tool was hidden in his belt, distracting humans looking at him to make them less suspicious. Sometimes, he felt that it was cheating, since Assassins were supposed to know how to be discreet, but it was too practical to give up on it.

One of the bar's patrons did notice him, however, and walked up to him. "A new face in town! That doesn't happen very often," the man said, grinning. He was taller than Alex, literally towering over him since Alex was sitting at the bar, with messy black hair and silvery blue eyes. Terrifyingly _sexah_ , to put it shortly. "And what is your name?"

"I'm Alex," he answered simply. "Pleased to meet you." The eyes were cleverly disguised, but he had noticed the metallic texture to them. A vampire; a mixed kind, if Alex was right — one who could feed on blood and emotions alike. It seemed Alex had found the local coven without even trying. As he held out one hand out to the man, his other passed swiftly above his drink, emptying a small vial into it; he then downed the rest of his glass, frowning at the strong taste of alcohol.

"And why would you come willingly to this hole, Alex?"

"And who are you?" Alex scoffed, not bothering to come up with a lie.

The vampire laughed. "I'm Damon Salvatore," he answered, shaking Alex's hand, "and I did notice you didn't tell me your own last name." As Alex remained silent, he added, "You can tell me anything. I'll keep your secrets. Are you running away from the law? From your family?"

"From my family, yeah," Alex answered, improvising as he realized the vampire would not be satisfied with no answers. "My dad hates me, and so I left. My brother's the only one who really cared for me, but I can't contact him now."

"That's sad," Damon said, perfectly feigning compassion — Alex would not have noticed if not for his own training at this sort of acting. "If you need someone to look our for you, I volunteer."

Alex smiled — knowing it would look genuine. "That would be most appreciated."

Damon's grin returned in full force. "All right. Then how about I give you a ride to wherever it is you live?"

Alex stared at him, unfazed. "I don't live anywhere right now. I'm meeting someone tomorrow who should let me rent a house."

"Ah, I see. Then maybe you'd want to come to my place, then?"

"With pleasure," Alex said with an ice cold smile.

"Come on, then," Damon said, holding out an inviting hand, "let's go to my car."

Alex grabbed his hand and followed him. Unsurprisingly, as soon as they two of them had walked a few hundred feet away from the Mystic Grill, Damon took him through a dark alleyway. As they were about halfway through, Alex paused, checking his watch — which doubled as a biometric detector. The potion was still in effect in his system.

Damon decided to take advantage of Alex's break, and violently pressed him against a wall. "Don't worry," he whispered, uncovering fangs, "it won't hurt."

 _I know that_ , Alex thought, holding back a grin. He tried to spout off some brave one-liner, but Damon's hand covered his mouth, stopping him from talking.

Damon bit him, and Alex relaxed as much as possible, knowing the anesthetic covering the vampire's fangs would dull the pain soon. In spite of his best efforts, he felt he was slowly losing consciousness, but even then, he was not scared. As Damon drank his blood, the potion started to take action, and Alex was already starting to sense Damon's thoughts.

 _When I wake up, you will be mine_ , he thought before giving in to the darkness.

* * *

Jenny Donna's lust for revenge had dried off, leaving nothing but a bitter aftertaste. After losing one of her lovers, Emmet Cullen, at the hands of the Volturi, she had staged an unnaturally easy counterstrike, tearing the coven apart and killing all but one of their leaders.

The ones responsible for Emmet's death were gone, and it didn't really feel any better. Satisfying, yes, but not better. Part of Jenny had known it all along, of course, but it hadn't stopped her from taking all these people down with her in her revenge.

'These people' were a small group, gathered by circumstance on a mission that shouldn't have involved taking down the strongest vampire coven in Europe. They merely wanted to neutralize Ariana, the half-vampire daughter of one of the Volturi bigheads, and possibly use her against her own eventually.

There was Jenny, of course, as well as her other — her only, now — boyfriend, Jacob Black. Hugo Smith, the mayor of their hometown of Forks and father to Jenny's former best friend — who was also dead now — and his fiancé Brian Hahnel, were two more. There was also Lynne Epieu, the chief of police of Forks, and her protégé Jason Curtis, a detective from Westerville; Cassie Chey and her son Tim, who had been victims of both the Cullens in Forks and of Ariana even before that; and Mark Thorn, cousin to Ariana's very last victim.

Most of them barely knew Jenny before their lives were shattered by the supernatural, but they had all agreed to go with her and assist her on her quest. And now they were all in danger because of it.

The Volturi had had a more… peaceful way of ruling Europe than the Cullens in North America. Most of the covens under their protections were actually loyal to them, and some looked for revenge. Additionally, the Special Cases SHS Unit, a secret military force founded and led by Jenny's own mother, also wanted their little group to answer for causing chaos in the supernatural world.

They had managed to run away, evading both of these threats for a week already. With no objective left and no way to simply go back to their lives, the group — prodded by Brian — had agreed to finish their task and take down Sulpicia Volturi. It wasn't even about revenge anymore; they hoped taking out the last head of the coven could cause just the extra bit of chaos that the covens would turn on each other, and attract attention away from them.

It was worth a shot, and they had worked on finding her. During the last battle, at the Coliseum, in Rome, Sulpicia had used her own magical talent to vanish into thin air; however, Hugo had brought along a manuscript by the vampiric witch Iphigenia, which had already provided them with information to defeat Ariana. In the document, which was almost her journal, she described one particular meeting with Sulpicia, during the Renaissance era, and mentioned her vanishing spell. With the help of the journal, and a couple days of planning to come back to the Coliseum safely, Jenny and Cassie managed to find where Sulpicia had vanished to.

That was how they ended up in Virginia. Sulpicia had burned out her own power long ago, which was why she used other witches as a source of power. Since she had killed both her pet witches during the battle at the Coliseum, they could reasonably expect that she was stuck where she had warped to, at least for some time.

Once in Richmond, Lynne and Jason's investigation skills proved useful, and the group tracked her down to a small town in the southern part of the state, called Mystic Falls. They found residence in a pension outside of town owned by an elderly woman named Mrs Flowers, who seemed very passionate about magic, but was not a witch as far as Jenny could say.

"What now?" Jacob asked her when they were alone in their room.

"Now," Jenny started, unsure of what to say, "we find Sulpicia and fry her, I suppose."

Jacob scoffed. "Yeah. Talk about a detailed plan." He sighed. "There are so many smells around this place. This town is crawling with supernatural stuff."

Jenny shrugged. "We knew there would be vampires. Sulpicia was probably looking for a refuge, after all."

"It's not just vampires, though. I grew… used… to a vampire's scent." Jenny knew he was referring to Emmet: the two had agreed to share her, and in the process had formed a strong bond as well. "There's more to it than that. I couldn't make out what it was exactly, but I'm sure of it."

"All right," Jenny said. "We'll find out, I'm sure." Hopefully before everything went wrong. "You know, if you're right… that means things will get dangerous."

"I know where you're getting at. Stop. I won't let you make me your Knight."

Jenny sighed. This was the third time they had this conversation already. "Why not? You could use the extra stamina and strength, and it could also help me develop my abilities!"

"Yeah, but we talked about this before, with _him_. We decided you couldn't choose one of us. If you made me your Knight now, it would just feel like… like we're moving on."

Jenny took the words like a slap. "What, you're calling me heartless?" she erupted. "This has nothing to do with moving on. I just don't want to lose you too," she added in a broken voice.

All tension between the two broke as Jacob took Jenny in his arms. "I know. I just…"

"You don't want to say goodbye just yet."

"Yeah." Jacob scoffed. "I'm just being an idiot, aren't I? A stubborn idiot who should just be reasonable."

"I won't deny that," Jenny said, giggling. "But I won't force you to do anything."

"No, it's all right. Let's do this."

Jenny backed off slightly to stare at him. "Are you sure?"

Jacob nodded. "We can't afford to take chances. I'll find another way to honor Emmet's memory."

Jenny felt her heart drop at hearing his name, but held strong. "All right. Sit down, it's a complex spell. I don't want to mess it up."


	3. Even in Death

Alex wan woken up by the sunrise shining on his eyelids. He reflexively took in his surroundings: some rich manor, lavishly decorated with old woods and golden linings. Alex himself had been laid to sleep on a comfortable old sofa, and someone had taken off his clothes, leaving him with only a thin, white sheet for modesty. Wrapping it around his waist, he explored the room, looking for some clue where he was.

He didn't search for long, however, as the sound of approaching footsteps alerted him that someone was entering the room. He turned around to see the newcomer: a man, taller than him with short brown hair. He looked a lot like Damon, but his eyes were golden, indicating that he was a regular blood drinker.

"So you're awake. My brother's new toy," the vampire said with contempt.

"I'm not a toy," Alex retorted, angry. "My name's Alex, and I have no idea where I am or how I got here."

"I'm Stefan Salvatore, Damon's brother. And you're in our home, obviously."

Alex wondered if they were really brothers, or if he just meant it to say they were part of the same coven. And if they were brothers, Alex also wondered how Damon was a mix-breed, but not Stefan. He supposed he would have to figure it out later. Right now, he had other priorities.

"All right, whatever. Where are my clothes? And my stuff? I need to get back in town." He could see through the window that the manor was remote, as there were only trees outside.

"Ah-ha, he's awake!" Damon's voice came just before the vampire entered the room.

His laid-back attitude made Alex furious. "Give me back my clothes and let me go, vampire!" Stefan looked surprise as Alex unintentionally revealed he knew their secret, and glanced at Damon disapprovingly, but Alex ignored him. "Right. Now!"

Alex was not half as mad as he pretended to be, but he wanted to see just how much of the potion the vampire had taken through his blood the night before. He could sense the vampire's thought very clearly, but he didn't dare try to assert dominance over him if there was a chance of failure. Assassins who did usually ended up as dead Assassins.

"Very well," Damon said. Vanishing with his superhuman speed, he came back mere moments later, holding a familiar leather bag, that Alex tore from his grasp, finding his way to a nearby bathroom to get dressed. As he did, Damon kept talking through the door. "How about I give you a ride to make up for last night?"

"Why would I trust you?" Alex spat.

"I didn't kill you, did I?"

 _Of course not, you're drugged to trust me_ , Alex thought. Still, he couldn't reject the vampire's help if he wanted to use him later on. Besides, he could use a ride — Damon had probably left Alex's bike in town. "All right," he said. He searched through his bag and found a couple metallic arm braces, that he slipped on, and tested their mechanism with a few flicks of the wrist: the hidden blades they contained slipped silently in and out of their sheaths. Relieved that his favorite weapons hadn't been damaged, he unlocked the door and exited the bathroom. "After you," he told Damon.

The vampire led him to a glossy block sports car, and drove back in town. About five minutes later, they reached the real estate agency that Alex had indicated him. Thankfully, Alex's bike was still in front of the place, where he'd left it the night before.

"Is there anything else I can do?" Damon asked.

Alex almost refused, then pondered about it. "Maybe? Just wait for me here; I won't be long." He then entered the agency.

* * *

Inside the agency, Alex introduced himself, and was led to the owner: a plump blonde woman who introduced herself as Jenna Sommers.

"You must me mister Miles," she said with a warm smile. "I had your secretary on the phone yesterday. You're extremely lucky that we had just the house you were looking for available. The owner decided to leave town earlier in the morning yesterday. It's as if it were meant to be!"

"Sure," Alex said, uncomfortable with her attitude, which screamed fake to him. As for the 'coincidence', he would bet Ms Borgia had had a hand in it.

"I suppose you'll want to visit first? It's only a couple minutes away from here. I'm certain you'll love it, though."

"Of course," Alex said. "I mean, of course I want to visit first."

Jenna raised her eyebrows, but managed to keep smiling. "All right! This way, please."

They walked down the street to a larger square, dominated by a large manor. "What's that?" Alex inquired.

"That's the town hall," Jenna said. "There are a lot of parties organized over there, you'll see. We never get bored here in Mystic Falls!"

"Oh. I see," Alex said, uninterested in such frivolousness.

Jenna mistook his reaction, however. "But don't worry. None of the neighbors ever complained about the noise."

Alex groaned mentally at the woman's lack of wits. "All right, let's just see that house," he sighed.

* * *

Visiting the house was a formality, really. Alex soon grew bored of it, and told Jenna the house was perfect just so she would leave at last. It was already furnished, so Alex could move in immediately; as such, Jenna gave him the key and left after making him sign some paperwork that Alex did not even care to read.

When he was finally alone, Alex waited for a short moment to make sure Jenna was truly gone before heading out to get his bike and his stuff from Damon's car. However, as he walked out the door, he came face-to-face with none other than Damon himself, lounging against Alex's bike, with Alex's bag over his shoulder.

"Hello there," Damon said with a smile.

"Thanks," Alex said, unsure what this really meant. As he reached for his bag, however, Damon pulled away, slightly out of reach.

"Aren't you going to invite me in?" he asked.

Alex frowned. Had Damon taken that much of the potion, that he would be so enthralled with him? Regardless, he couldn't trust him. "You're a vampire. Do you really think I can trust you in my own home?"

"No invitation, no bag," Damon pouted — which Alex couldn't help but notice looked very good on him.

Alex fumed, and considered giving up on his other weapons, at least temporarily, but another idea came to his mind. Damon seemed very obsessed with him; maybe it was time to test just how far it went. Alex reached for Damon, both physically and mentally, and said, "All right, come in."

The vampire smiled broadly and followed Alex, seemingly unaware of the mental intrusion. Damon dropped the bag in the living room, then, as he was about to leave — if his thoughts were any indication — Alex took his chance. A small mental push, and Damon was pinning him to a wall.

"So… do you think you'll let me have this second chance?" Damon said. The words were all his — only the impulse to stay had come from Alex. But it was a start.

"I'll think about it," Alex said with a grin.

Damon stared at him for a moment. "That's enough."

There was something incredibly intense about his gaze, and Alex could not stand it for very long. "Thanks for everything," he said, implying that Damon should leave, and simultaneously pushing him to do so mentally.

"See you around, Alex," Damon said, before leaving.

Alex sighed, relieved to be free from the tension that the vampire's presence caused in him, and turned to his bag. He started to inspect his weapons, making sure they were still intact after the bad treatment they had likely been subjected to.

"Oh, wait, I forgot…" a voice — Damon's voice — came from behind him. "Wait… what are you doing with all of _that_?"

* * *

Dan opened his eyes in the middle of the archaeological site of Heliopolis, in the heat of the afternoon sun. A group of people were gathered around him, but he felt too dizzy to register their voices, and was in too much pain to move at all.

In the back of his mind, he felt he was being examined by someone, who shone a small torch in his eye and took his pulse. He was then carried off to a car — not an ambulance, though, but a limousine. Whomever had taken him in probably knew who he was; all Dan could hope for now was that it wasn't one of his enemies.

He didn't have the strength to worry, though, and drifted in and out of consciousness for the whole ride. When he came to his senses a little more clearly, he was faced with Becca's concerned glance. She said something, but he still couldn't focus enough to hear her.

Two men exited the car and carried Dan to what he recognized to be their hotel room in Cairo, and helped him settle in one of the chairs before exiting the room, leaving Dan alone with his sister, who sat on the table in front of him.

"So what happened?" she said. In the quietness of their room, Dan was finally able to focus on her voice.

"It all went _swimmingly_ ," Dan said bitterly.

"Dan, you've vanished for a _day_. I am allowed to be concerned for you."

A day? Dan didn't know. "All right. First of all: gods are dicks."

Becca glared at him. "Watch your language. And if you were that respectful to them during the audience, then I'm starting to feel much less sympathy for you."

"I wasn't, sis. I swear I've never been more of a diplomat than I was to them. But… well, let me recap, okay?"

Becca crossed her arms on her chest. "All right. I'm listening."

"First of all, I spent a good twenty minutes wandering some underground maze. I'm sure I walked under the Nile at one point, Becca. The Nile! It's not exactly close to the entrance we've been given, in case you didn't remember. And then they decided they wanted to test my bravery, I suppose. Blew my torch, left me in the dark for a while, talking with their cavernous voices and all. Of course, it was all an illusion — their voices sound pretty human. Or maybe that was the illusion… Ah, screw it."

"Okay, but what did they say?"

"Nothing that made sense, at that point. I guess they knew I was from Egypt, so they kept going how I was the child of the country going back to his roots. As if it mattered!"

"You don't know how these gods think. Maybe it's important to _them_."

"That's what I thought too, so I went along with it. They finally showed themselves to me. Of course Ra decided he had to show off he was the Sun god and illuminate the whole room himself. I think my eyesight will never recover from that. Anyway, they look… pretty much the way the Egyptians depicted them. I'm almost disappointed, really. Then, they finally started negotiating."

"All right. And…?"

"And, as I said, they're _dicks_ , because even that was nonsense. I asked them for their help. I said we could build an alliance, that this was the perfect chance for them to gain control over two whole continents… and they flat-out refused."

Becca sighed. "So it was all for nothing."

"Not quite," Dan said. "They refused that offer… but not the alliance itself."

"What, you're telling me they're _not_ interested in ruling over three continents?"

Dan shrugged. "Looks like it."

Becca shook her head, her frizzy hair waving along. "Then what did they agree to?"

"I'm… not entirely sure. They said help would come, but it wasn't clear."

Becca stared at him, alarmed. "But what did they say exactly?"

Dan sighed. "I don't really remember."

"Are you _serious_?" His sister erupted. "You know as well as I do that exact words are basically drugs to these so-called gods! They love using them for their prophecies and manipulations, and you tell me you _don't remember_?"

Dan took the verbal assault calmly — mostly because he was not in the sort of shape to retaliate. "In case you didn't notice, that's not exactly the end. They said we would get help, and I'm pretty sure they meant it would be from them… and then Tefnut said that she had another message for me, and asked me to follow her to her own… quarters, I guess. After that I went through a severe, magical-induced, beat down, and I blacked out. Only to wake up back in the ruins of Heliopolis."

Becca frowned. "But why did she do that?"

"As if I knew that!"

"We might be able to use it against her. If she took you alone first, maybe she doesn't want the rest of the Ennead to know."

Dan smiled sadly — her ability to think like a true Organization higher-up had developed so fast, it was both a source of pride and regret to him. There had been a reason neither his parents nor he had wanted Becca to join; that sort of corruption was exactly why. "I don't know about you, but I wouldn't scheme against them. Or at least I'd be very careful about it." Still, she was right: if only for the sake of his curiosity, Dan wanted to find out why this had happened. "Anyway, we need to focus on the more urgent task. What news from Virginia?"

Becca checked a clock on the wall. "Our man should be in Mystic Falls right now; it seemed like the most likely destination for Sulpicia to go to."

Dan frowned. "Mystic Falls? Just the name sounds like fun. You'll have to brief me while we're on the plane to go there."


	4. Trial and Execution

Alex gulped, nervous, as the vampire was coming back into the living room, staring at his arsenal.

"Well?" Damon pressed him.

"I—" Could he tell Damon the truth? Was his control over the vampire's mind strong enough that he would not betray his secrets? Most importantly, what had happened to Alex's training, that had taught him how to come up with the perfect lie on the fly? "I'm part of a brotherhood of Assassins," he ended up admitting.

The bond's effect was strong as ever, though, forming a warm and comforting presence in the back of Alex's mind. Damon blinked twice, then smiled. "Really? That's nice," he said, absent-minded.

Alex was perplexed; he had never tried the potion before, but he had never heard it could have such a massive effect in altering someone's judgment. Was it related to Damon being a mixed-breed vampire? Or would Damon just naturally have accepted this?

"You're not— mad that I hid it from you?" he asked, uncertain.

"Of course not. I couldn't be mad at someone as pretty as you," Damon replied as he moved closer to Alex, his gaze suddenly soft and charming.

Alex felt like he could get lost in that gaze. "What does that mean?"

"It means that I didn't kill you for a reason," he said; and just like that, he was all over Alex, kissing him, holding him, both pressing him closer and keeping him in place. Alex did not bother trying to resist; he had fallen for the vampire the moment he had laid eyes on him, and this was just too much to fight.

After what felt like hours, Damon finally let go of him. "I love you, Alex," he said, too earnestly to be true.

Alex could not care less about that, about the potion, or anything. "I love you too," he replied immediately.

"Come on," the vampire said in a needy voice, "let's go to your bedroom."

Alex felt nervous at that offer. He was scared of not being ready for… _that_ … yet. It was one of the problems that came with living as a recluse in a sect of assassins; he lacked experience in that regard. He found the perfect strategy to escape Damon's solicitations, and said, "I'm sorry; I have to go to school!" It was part of his disguise; blend in with all the other teenagers.

Damon looked alarmed. "Oh, shit," he said, as if missing school was the worst thing that could happen to Alex. "I'll drive you to school, come on! We'll discuss this when you come back."

"Okay," Alex said. He kissed Damon once more, then headed outside.

* * *

As he sat down for his first class, Alex's attention was immediately caught by a handsome boy: muscular and tan, he sported short black hair and had mysterious dark grey eyes. He must have noticed Alex's staring at him, because he went to sit down right next to him.

"Hi, I'm Derek," he said. "You new here?"

Alex nodded. "My name's Alex. I arrived in town today."

"Welcome to hell, then. New guys aren't very well greeted around here," he said, grimacing. Alex guessed he had not arrived here too long ago, either. "I can tell you about everyone, if you want," he offered, as the classroom was filling up with students.

"All right, why not?" Gossip, so long as it was taken with a grain of salt, could be a good way to learn surprisingly accurate information.

Derek spent the entirety of the period telling him about everyone: Elena, the school's queen bee and Stefan's girlfriend; her best friend Bonnie, who was rumored to be a witch; Caroline, Elena's friend-slash-rival and her boyfriend Matt, who was also Elena's ex; and the jocks, led by Tyler Lockwood. Derek seemed to particularly dislike the latter, but he didn't seem willing to explain why.

The information was interesting, though: in particular, Bonnie being a witch was important. Ms Borgia has been very clear to Alex that Sulpicia Volturi surrounded herself with witches to use their power as her own; Bonnie could be her target, or even her ally. As for Elena, any girl who dated a vampire was probably hiding something.

At the end of the period, Elena whispered a few words in Tyler's ear, and he walked up to Derek and Alex, followed by a few friends of his. Tyler was quite dashing, Alex had to admit; he had dark hair and eyes, and was positively ripped. However, his attitude was much less pleasant: he looked at Alex and Derek like a wolf looking at his prey.

"Hello, new boy," he said, smirking. "I see you're making friends with the rejects already? Learning your place?"

"What the hell, Tyler," Derek replied angrily. "Leave us alone."

"What, do you think I'll hurt your boyfriend's feelings or something?"

The quip made Alex's blood boil. "Whatever, you're just a homophobic loser. I bet you're closeted yourself," he sneered, then walked outside the classroom.

The sound of footsteps came from behind, and Alex was shoved in the opposite wall of the hallway. When he turned back, he found Tyler glaring at him. "You don't know anything," he spat. "I was just teasing, you know."

Alex felt his head pounding from the impact, and Derek insisted he go to the nurse's office. Since it meant skipping classes, Alex was not going to complain, even though he doubted there was any real damage.

* * *

Mystic Falls was a very socially active town, it seemed: they took every opportunity to celebrate. And, from what Mrs Flowers had told Jenny, a lot of those activities were at least somewhat connected to the local high school. Since a good chuck of them team were teenagers, they agreed that some of them should enroll, and Jenny and Tim had volunteered.

They were told that they would actually start school the next day, and as such, were free to roam around the campus for the day. Jenny was mostly interested in gathering information from students, however, and went straight to the school's stadium with Tim. Inevitably, someone was practicing there: namely, the school's cheer squad. They both sat down, waiting for them to finish.

It was the first time Jenny was alone with the boy since they had met in Westerville. Tim had lived in Forks, and had left around the time when Jenny had learned the truth about the Cullens. They had never been very close, especially since he had rejected her best friend at the time, Joan, a year before that. But Jenny felt that she should get to know every one of those people she had dragged along in her crusade.

She didn't really know how to start, but she felt like they needed to talk. And as her father had once told her jokingly: when in doubt, go for self-deprecation. "You still don't regret embarking on my vendetta?" she asked.

Tim eyed her, looking puzzled. "It hasn't really been _your_ vendetta for a while now, you know. I knew what I was getting myself into — my mom even tried to stop me, if you remember."

"Right."

"Besides," Tim said, grinning, "I would never have found out I was a magical child who could kick ass with all sort of medieval weaponry otherwise." He held up the quarterstaff he had taken to carrying around; even if the bow was still his favorite weapon, this was more practical, and less conspicuous. "You know," he added more seriously, "I think you're being too hard on yourself. Constantly taking the blame for everything and all. You shouldn't do that."

"But I _am_ to blame—"

"It's all a matter of point of view. Emmet was killed by Aro, and we all decided to come with you on our own accord. And I don't even know the details what happened to Joan, but both you and Hugo seem like you have trouble getting over it."

That was partly true, although Jenny knew for a fact that Hugo took it much worse than she did. "So you want me to just move on?" she asked, the words strangely echoing her argument with Jacob from the night before.

"I don't really know. At least make a step in that direction?"

Jenny remained silent for a moment. "I'll think about it." She paused again, then asked, "Is that how you dealt with your dad?"

"My dad was an entirely different matter. I saw the Cullens kill him and my boyfriend, Nick. Nick was shooting a vlog when it happened, and I guess the Cullens didn't notice. Or maybe they just didn't care about discretion anymore; I gathered they brought an entire army to Forks only a couple weeks later." He shrugged. "Anyway, I never really blamed myself for it. But making a step towards moving on did help, yes. For me, it was moving to Ohio. I can't tell you what it'll be for you, though."

Jenny studied the boy for a moment. "Did you share that with anyone?"

"My mom, obviously. Mark knows what happened, but not all the details — he doesn't know about the vlog — so I guess that makes you the only other one," he admitted, blushing.

"I see. Thank you for your trust, Tim." Jenny could do with more trust, right now.

"Hold on, what're they doing?" Tim said, looking at the cheerleaders.

Jenny reported her attention to them. While they were talking, a boy had approached them. One of the girls was writhing in pain on the floor, and Jenny could see that another of the squad had used a spell to do that. "One of them's a witch," Jenny said out loud for Tim's sake. She was still unsure just how perceptive Tim was to magic; as a witch's son, he had some affinity to it, but they had never had time to test it extensively.

They both got up from their seats and started in the squad's direction, but before they reached them, the boy leaped on one of the girls. She gasped, her eyes opening wide in pain, and when the boy walked back, Jenny noticed a wound in her belly. Most of the cheer squad dispersed when they noticed as well.

"What the hell?" Jenny said, forming a spell as she ran. She tried to immobilize the boy, but her spell seemed blocked by an invisible sphere around him. He took the cheerleader who had been victim of her peer's spell and left, not even glancing at Jenny.

"Tim! Can you follow them?" The boy nodded. "Be careful," she added as he left. Jenny then reported her attention to the wounded girl. She was an Afro-American, about Jenny's age and size, but not as athletic, which was odd for a cheerleader. Now that she was so close, Jenny could not ignore her Talent telling her that girl was a witch, presumably the one who had cast the spell to harm the other girl.

Still, Jenny could not leave another witch hanging, especially since she knew nothing about the situation. Only one other cheerleader had remained, a girl with brown hair and dark eyes, who had immediately cut off part of her uniform in an attempt to stop the bleeding. She looked more determined than she was scared or surprised by the turn of events.

"Let me handle this," Jenny said. Over the last few days, she and Cassie had had some time for the woman to teach Jenny her healing spells, and Jenny had become rather good at it, after some initial issues. She wove the spells with ease, first diagnosing the severity of the wound. It was not a very large cut, but the witch had been stabbed deeply, and several organs had been perforated. She then worked as fast as she could, suturing those organs, then the flesh and skin above them, until the wound was closed.

When she was done, Jenny sat down on the grass, not caring about the blood that was probably all over her now. Healing was such an exhausting process!

"You're a witch too," the brunette said.

So she knew about her friend, then? That was helpful, Jenny guessed. "Yes. I'm Jenny."

"Elena. And this is Bonnie." The witch — Bonnie — had lost consciousness at some point while Jenny was healing her, but her breathing was reassuringly regular.

"What happened? Who was that girl?"

"Girl? The one who stabbed her was a boy named Alex."

"I mean who was the girl that Bonnie assaulted with a spell," Jenny said adamantly.

"A vampire, some girl named Amelia," Elena said. "An empath. She didn't seem aware that her silver eyes would be a dead giveaway. A lot of vampires come to Mystic Falls, so Bonnie and I recognized it immediately."

"All right," Jenny said. "Do you treat all new vampires in town like this?"

"Of course not!" Elena's anger seemed to indicate the idea was particularly revolting to her. "In fact, I'm not sure Bonnie really wanted to harm her. Amelia feeds on anger, and tried to manipulate us all so she could feed on us."

"But it backfired," Jenny guessed. "What about this Alex guy?"

"He's just arrived in town too, but I didn't think they knew each other. His deal is a little more… peculiar." Jenny waited for Elena to tell her more, but she didn't.

Eventually, she got up. "I should go find my friend. Hopefully he didn't get caught."

"You really should. They're both dangerous."

Jenny grinned. "Oh, I'm not afraid for Tim," she said, laughing. "I'd just like them to still be able to talk. I'll be sure to see you around, Elena."


	5. Black Rose, Green Sun

Alex carried the girl to an empty bathroom, where he laid her down. He had been walking aimlessly after his — predictably useless — visit to the nurse, when he caught a glimpse of her silver eyes, before she took a major magical beat down.

A vulnerable vampire was a blessing to Alex. She was an empath, so she wouldn't drink his blood, but he could still make her drink the potion directly; it wouldn't be difficult in her current, weakened state. The potion itself was linked to Alex's DNA, and although it wouldn't take effect as quickly this way, it was good enough. Alex had not even found Sulpicia yet, he had time to tame these vampires.

The girl regained consciousness, and Alex sensed her confusion. _Good. The potion is taking effect already_. "Who are you? What happened?" she asked, on the defensive.

"When you feed on people's anger, make sure none of them will make you suffer once angry," Alex said instead of replying. "There was a witch among them. Took care of her, though." They would never be able to get help in time for that wound, Alex was sure of it. "I'm Alex."

"Amelia," the girl said, circumspect. "How do you know what I am?"

"Really? Come on, the eyes are kind of a giveaway." If she was that slow, she might not be very useful. Oh well, at least she'd be an extra pair of arms, Alex guessed. "How did you end up here?"

"Mystic Falls? Oh, it's one of _those_ places. Everyone wants to go there, promise of endless power and miraculous wonders. My coven was taken over by my dad's new mate, and I couldn't cope, so I gave in to the fairy tale."

"Fairy tale?" Alex asked, narrowing his eyes. He hadn't heard anything about this place. "How about you tell me more about it?"

* * *

Tim managed to lose the mysterious boy, even though he carried an unconscious girl. To his discharge, he didn't exactly expect to see the other climbing to the top of a building, even one that was only one story tall, run across the roof the other side, drop down, and disappear, before Tim had time to run around it.

Still, it _was_ very frustrating. He didn't even doubt they were still somewhere on the campus, but he could look all day and never find them.

Jenny caught up with him, and he explained to her what had happened. Her reaction was a lot nicer than his own.

"Don't worry, we'll catch him some other time. I doubt helping this vampire was his reason for joining this school."

"She was a vampire?"

"Yeah, that's what Elena told me. She's a friend of the witch who got hurt. I healed her, by the way. She's fine."

"So they know about vampires here?"

"Not everyone, I don't think so, but those do. As for the boy, Alex, he's joined school today. As I said, I doubt saving this girl was his sole purpose." She paused, thoughtful. "What do we know of him already? He's ballsy enough to attack someone he apparently knows to be a witch. I can't see another reason why he would strike Bonnie specifically otherwise. He carries a blade with him, hidden somewhere. He has some sort of protection against my own spells—"

"Wait, you mean, like me?" Tim asked. 

Jenny, however, shook her head. "No. If I cast an… unfriendly spell at you, it will just sort of vanish when it touches you. Him, I couldn't even touch at all, something was blocking me."

"How is that possible then?"

"I'm not sure. What else? He can climb up a building in record time while carrying someone — that's gotta count for something. Did you see his eyes?"

"No. But he wasn't running as fast as vampires can. I don't see what stopped him. And why use a blade?"

Jenny nodded. "Good point. Not a vampire, then." She sighed. "Then what _is_ he?"

"Maybe Brian would have an idea?" Tim suggested.

Jenny nodded once more. "You're right. I think this is enough for today."

 _Is it, though? We're no closer to finding Sulpicia_ , Tim thought.

* * *

Jenny and Tim went back to the pension, and found Brian, Lynne and Cassie studying a map of the town with Mrs Flowers. She was pointing them each location of mystical importance — and there were a lot of those. The one she thought was the most relevant was a crypt, in the woods that nearly surrounded Mystic Falls; it was now the location of a castle, in use by some eccentric family who wasn't very well-known in town.

Jenny took Brian apart to another room of the pension — an office with a small bookshelf, where Hugo was studying the manuscripts of Iphigenia some more — and she and Tim explained the events of the morning to him.

Brian frowned at her explanation. "That… I'll admit that doesn't sound like anything I've heard of."

"I think what's most important," Hugo intervened, "is that it doesn't sound like anything familiar at all."

Jenny, Brian and Tim both turned to start at him. "What do you mean?" Jenny asked.

"Let's face it, a lot of the creatures that Brian has told me about have at least some connection to folklore or myths. Vampires and werewolves are the most obvious. Half-vampires? They also exist in lore, although they're nowhere near as frequent. And with Iphigenia and what you told me about the major factions of the world, we have to add at least two pantheons of pagan gods." He glanced at Brian, smiling. "Of course, you have years of experience. Ever met something that didn't have at least some lore about it?"

"Yeah, but that lore isn't always accurate," Tim pointed out.

"No, but Hugo's right," Brian said. "I don't think we'd know of every myth in existence, of course, but this is too… different."

"So, what, it's not a supernatural creature?" Jenny asked.

"That's insane," Tim said. "You should have seen him climb that building."

"You should see some of the agents I know climb buildings," Brian retorted. Then, thoughtful, he added, "I'm sure you'd recognize some of their techniques, actually."

"What, you think he was a Unit agent?" Tim asked, incredulous.

Brian shook his head. "I don't think I've ever heard of a device protecting someone from magic being developed by the Unit. But there is the Organization." Tim had only heard of the Organization once before, but he remained quiet, preferring to ask questions later than distract them from their speculation.

"Aren't they more of the rich, powerful type?" Hugo asked. "They didn't sound to me like the type to do parkour."

"The actual members, yes. But they must have some field agents too, with the best training and access to all of their equipment."

"All right. Let's assume he works for the Organization," Jenny said. "What is he doing here?"

"We can't be the only ones who located Sulpicia," Hugo said.

Brian nodded. "Yeah. But I'd hoped we would have more time until someone showed up. We still don't know where Sulpicia is."

"Neither does he," Tim said. "At least I doubt it. That vampire had arrived in town just today, she's probably not going to help him. And if he has found Sulpicia, why bother with this one?"

"You may be right," Brian replied. "But we can't just assume that. We'll need you to keep an eye on this Alex."

"And on Bonnie," Jenny added. "Sulpicia will want to find new pet witches. If Bonnie isn't her future victim, she might at least know of other witches in the area that Sulpicia would have captured or befriended."

"Sounds like a plan," Brian said, grinning. "Do you think you'll need more help? We can find a way to get at least Mark and Jacob with you. And I can still pass as a teenager if I have to."

Tim found the idea of Brian, a man well in his thirties, pretending to be a high schooler, more disturbing than anything, even though he was convinced Brian could pull it off. Being part empath, Brian aged slower than regular people did, and still had a youthful face.

However, a glance between Jenny and Tim was enough to decide otherwise. "We'll take Mark and Jacob," Tim said, "but I think that'll be enough. We shouldn't narrow our options to just the high school yet."

* * *

Alex spent the rest of his day with Amelia, and eventually, Derek joined them. His presence was kind of a hinder, as they couldn't talk freely in his presence, but Alex liked him enough to accept that. It was the first true friend Alex made — if they could even be called that. That was one of the downsides of living in a recluse community who had to form a brotherhood; no one had ever liked Alex for who he really was.

When he left, he had secured his control over Amelia's mind — nowhere near as strong as the one he had over Damon, but enough to ensure her loyalty. She already had a place to stay, thankfully; Alex would not have liked having to let her in his house as well. Even under partial mind control, he would rather keep vampires away.

That resolve, however, faded pretty fast when he found Damon waiting for him in the school's parking lot, all in dark leather and sunglasses. He might be an elite Assassin, but he could not — as much as he sometimes wanted to — repress the part of him that was a teenage boy.

"Hello there, Alex," Damon said, charming as ever. "I figured you'd appreciate a ride back home."

Alex should probably say no. That would only attract attention to him, and make Damon think he could take the initiative and— "I would." Damn hormones. He wasn't even sure how much he controlled Damon at the moment.

Damon kissed him before he could enter the car, shattering his focus even more, and leaving him without even a semblance of conscious thought for the whole ride. It took him a moment to realize the car had stopped in front of his house.

"Th— thanks, Damon," he stuttered, blinking. "I'll just— go now."

Damon caught up with him easily as he reached the front door, and didn't even need to make an argument to have Alex let him come in — another kiss was all it took.

"Come on," the vampire said, "let's inaugurate that bedroom."

Alex gulped, nervous. Another downside with living in a recluse community was that this was not something he was experienced in. At all. He confessed it to Damon. "I've never— I mean, before—"

Damon, however, just shrugged, and smiled ferociously. "Perfect," he said, as he lifted Alex from the ground. "Shall we change that, then?"

"Okay" was all Alex could say, breathless.

* * *

Tim spent most of his afternoon in the pension's backyard, practicing his movements with his new weapon of choice, a halberd. After he'd found out about his affinity to ancient weapons, it had become increasingly easier to pick up one and instantly know how to use it. He wondered if that talent was unique to him, or if other witches' sons had similar abilities.

When he came back to the room he shared with Mark, he was surprised to find the boy was already there. He and Jacob had gone to MFHS to get signed up as well, but Tim had not expected them back. Or maybe he hadn't noticed the passage of time.

"Didn't expect you there already," he said. He collapsed on the bed, exhausted by the couple hours of training.

Mark rolled closer to him. "Jenny helped us… get on the principal's good side. It made the process a whole lot easier." Tim inched back a little — he was still sweaty from the exertion, and close contact was not really desirable at this moment. Mark chuckled, and added, "So we're going to attend the same school now."

"Looks like it." High school drama was the last thing on Tim's mind, however.

"Will I be allowed to kiss my boyfriend in public, or do I have to expect a colder treatment now that we're in a… not exactly tolerant state?"

Tim stared at him. "Are you kidding? As if I'd care what people think."

Mark grinned. "I guess you _would_ be able to kick anyone's ass. Although I need to remind you that we're supposed to be discreet."

"It's all going to be _fine_ ," Tim said. "Just ignore anyone that comes our way. We're not going to stay here long."

"Is that how you made it through in Forks?" Mark asked, serious all of a sudden.

"No, most people there were pretty tolerant. The only one who could really have tried to bully me was Joan, but I had already come out for a while when she came back and started attending Forks High, so no one even really talked about it anymore. And she was too obsessed with Edward Cullen to remember I even existed. What about you? How was it, in Chicago?"

"Uneventful, mostly. By which I mean I never really came out to anyone but my cousin, and never had a boyfriend."

Tim raised an eyebrow, a teasing smile forming on his lips. "So that makes me your first, doesn't it?"

"Yeah," Mark said, grinning once more. "I'm dating a more experienced boy. And I do not regret that decision."

They rolled around on the bed, laughing and kissing.


	6. Descend

Even with the comfort of one of the Organization's private jets, the flight had not been particularly pleasant for Dan, what with all his wounds. But at least, this way, he could fly from Cairo to Richmond directly.

Becca told him all she had gathered about their man there, a boy their age named Alex Miles. Dan had been surprised by that fact; how could someone so young have escaped his peers? The Assassins were supposed to be reliable, but this cast some serious doubts on Dan's trust in them.

Dan and Becca had chosen to lay low on their way, and rented two cars: one that they would take straight to Mystic Falls, and another with which their pilot and bodyguard would follow them a couple days later.

They parked in front of the house Becca had rented. No one came to answer the door, so Dan was forced to pick the lock, using a tool incorporated to his phone. As they walked inside, they walked into an odd scene: a boy, naked safe for a towel wrapped around his waist, his hair wet, was busying himself in the kitchen, while an older man — that Dan immediately identified as a vampire — was waiting around, completely naked.

Considering everything Dan had been through in the past months, this was not going to make him bat an eye. He sighed, feeling almost desperate, and turned to Becca. "So I suppose this" — he nodded towards the one in the kitchen — "is our man?"

Becca was frozen at the sight of two nearly naked men, but managed to nod. At the same time, Dan's voice had attracted the attention of the other two, oblivious of their arrival until then. The younger man glared at them, and the vampire immediately placed himself in front of him, almost defensively.

 _It would almost be a fitting way to go, killed by a naked vampire. The glorious conclusion to my astounding career as Leader_. Of course, that sort of thought was not productive. Before the vampire could make another move in their direction, Dan had already fired an incapacitating, metallic stake through his heart — not lethal, but painful all the same.

"Is that a way to treat guests?" he said, walking casually past the crippled vampire lying on the floor. Becca followed, more careful than her brother to avoid the blood that was starting to form a puddle around him.

"Alex Miles?" she asked.

The boy must have recognized her voice: his eyes widened in recognition, as well as, it seemed, fear. "Ms Borgia! And you must be—"

"The Leader, yes. I'd assumed you would at least know what we  _look_  like," Dan said. He tried his best to sound cold and detached, but the deadpan tone was as best as he could manage recently.

"My apologies for this, I—"

"I could care less about apologies. Did you find Sulpicia?"

"No, but I found a witch who lives here. I will use her as bait. And I've already recruited two vampires."

Dan knew what he meant by 'recruiting' the vampires, but he couldn't help a sarcastic remark. "I can see that," he said, eyeing the one lying on the floor. He sighed once more — he'd grown used to sighing a lot. "I don't care what you do with him in the bedroom. But I want results, and fast."

Alex nodded. "Damon — this vampire — he told me about a social event tonight in town. The election of Miss Mystic Falls, some old tradition. I think Sulpicia might attend."

Dan stared him down thoughtfully. Could it be that simple? "All right, then, we'll attend that election, I suppose."

* * *

Lynne woke up to the sound of a cat meowing, somewhere outside the window of her room in the pension. The sound brought back memories of her dreams: for a couple night now, they were plagued with visions of cats and lionesses, sitting still but seemingly calling out to her.  _If I'm starting to have psychic dreams…_  she thought to herself, annoyed. At this point, she would almost believe it, but if she was going to have some sort of ability too, she wish it could be something more reliable.

It could just have been a dream, of course. Even two nights in a row. But she resolved to pay attention to it from now on.

Going downstairs, she found Hugo in the kitchen, alone. "Morning," she said, rushing to the coffee machine.

"Good morning," Hugo said. How could he be awake so early and not look tired at all? That was beyond Lynne's understanding. "Rough night?"

As she made coffee for herself, Lynne shrugged. "You could say that." Then, sighing, she decided she could confide in him. At some point after Brian's return, she had managed to get over her attraction to Hugo for good, but they had worked together for too long to end their friendship as well. "Do you think dreams can have a meaning?" she asked.

"I'm pretty certain Iphigenia mentions it somewhere in her journal, actually. Why?"

"I've had the same dream twice; some weird dream where I'm surrounded by cats and lionesses. It could be nothing, but I'd rather make sure."

Hugo remained silent for a moment. "Well, I can look  _into_  it, at least. Try to find when Iphigenia mentioned her dreams again."

"Thanks, Hugo," Lynne said, sitting at the kitchen table with her coffee mug in hands. "So what's the plan now?"

"The kids are at school," Hugo said, with a half-smile, "which sounds a lot more normal than the situation is. Hopefully they can find some more information, but in the meantime, we should work on our own to find Sulpicia."

"Yeah. Finding witches would be a start."

"Indeed," Cassie said, entering the room. "And the easiest place to start is to look into that Bonnie's family."

"Right," Hugo said. "Being a witch is hereditary, passed down to the first daughter, so her mother, or maternal grandmother, could be targets as much as she is."

"It's more than that," Cassie retorted. "If any of them have older brothers, their oldest daughter should be witches as well. It takes two male generations for the talent to disappear completely, according to Lewis."

"That could be a lot. I'll investigate the Bennett family," Lynne said. "With Jason. We're cops; it's what we do best. Maybe we'll find other witches in their acquaintances."

"You really think there could be more than one family of witches in the area?" Hugo asked.

Lynne shrugged. "There has to be a reason for Sulpicia to have come precisely here."

"What if it's not witches, though?" Cassie objected. "The city seems to be crawling with the supernatural. She could be after something else. I want to look into it."

"All right," Hugo said. "Call me if you need help."

Cassie smirked. "I should be all right. I  _am_  a freelance journalist when I don't join crusades against evil forces. I can investigate as well as Lynne here. But if I do need help, don't worry, I will ask you." She grabbed her trench coat and walked out.

"What will you and Brian do, then?" Lynne asked Hugo once they were alone.

"I have plenty more things to analyze. Maybe we'll realize that Alex is actually a mythical creature we didn't think of, in the end. As for Brian…" He lowered his voice to add, "I think it's best we don't push him too much for now. He's not been taking well to becoming an enemy of the Unit. They were the only people he knew for years."

Lynne nodded. "If you think it's for the best, all right. But we will need him sooner or later, you know?"

"I know. Trust me, I know."

* * *

Being the new guy in school was an experience Tim was relatively familiar with, by now: he had been forced to move a few times in the past. Being one of four new students, and with a boyfriend to top it all, changed the experience somewhat as he came to Mystic Falls High School for the second time.

Some of the students showed clear hostility towards them. In particular, Tim and Mark's linked hands, as well as Mark's rainbow-colored trench coat, attracted more than one glare as they walked down the hallway. Yet, there was strength in numbers, and none of those people came even close to them. Still, Tim wondered what they would do to one of them alone; and realizing that, vowed to stay near Mark at all times. His boyfriend was the only one who did not possess some supernatural ability to defend himself, after all.

Mark and he had pretty much the same schedule, thankfully. During a free period, they went to the school's library, hoping to be alone for a short time. There was only one other student in the library, playing on a portable console, who barely looked at them when they came in. However, their luck would not have it this way: moments after they settled down behind a bookshelf, the library's doors opened again.

A voice came from the entrance. "Hey, you're the new guy, right? Alex, is that it?"

Tim and Mark both froze, and Tim glanced over from behind the bookshelf. As he hid behind it again, he nodded towards Mark: that was indeed the boy he had been chasing after the day before.

"Yeah," another voice answered — probably Alex himself. He sounded mostly uninterested.

"I'm Jeremy Gilbert," the first voice said.

Alex's response was immediate. "You're related to Elena?" he asked in a growl.

"Yes, she's my sister. But I hate her. She's not very… accepting of me," Jeremy said. "You're very beautiful, you know that?"

"You're— you're just saying that," Alex said. He sounded… flustered.

"No, I mean it."

There was a sound of movement. "Well, I already have a boyfriend, so back off," Alex said; however, his tone was much less cold than previously.

"I see…" Jeremy said. He sounded genuinely sad. "Sorry."

"No problem," Alex said. "Say, what's that game you're playing?"

"Oh. Some  _Assassin's Creed_  game. You know about them?"

"Yes, I do," Alex said, his voice distant. Moments later, he nearly screamed, "I have the powers of the pieces of Eden within me!"

"What?" Jeremy said, echoing Tim's thoughts on the subject.

"Nothing!" Alex said, nervous. "Forget about it!" Footsteps echoed through the library, followed by the sound of the door.

Tim glanced over the bookshelf, noticing that Alex was gone, leaving a confused Jeremy alone. Next to him, Mark walked towards the boy.

"So what was  _that_  about?" he asked, as Tim was hurrying by his side.

Jeremy turned to stare at them. "What?" He was about as tall as Mark was, but was leaner, with short brown hair and dark eyes.

"You, pretending to be interested in him."

"I wasn't pretending!" Jeremy protested, but Mark cut him off.

"Please. I have an awesome gaydar, and you're not gay." Tim eyed Mark curiously — was that a bluff, or did he mean it?

Regardless, it was enough to unsettle Jeremy's façade. "All right. Maybe I'm not. So what? What's the harm?"

"Pulling a prank on someone and leading them on? It  _could_  be harmful, actually," Tim said. "But this isn't what it's about, is it? You're doing this for your sister."

Jeremy's expression grew suspicious, and he eyed them more cautiously. "Who are— oh. Which one of you was the one who met her yesterday?"

"That would be me. I'm Tim, and this is Mark. So, am I right? You and Elena are working together?"

"Sort of," Jeremy said. "She wanted me to make friends with him, but considering all the elements we've gathered about him so far, I figured this would be more efficient."

"We should share the information we have," Mark suggested. "Work together."

Jeremy considered them carefully. "I should ask Elena, but I guess we could team up. Come tonight, to the Miss Mystic Falls election. We think something will happen there; and even if nothing does, at least you'll get to meet her."

"All right," Mark said.

"We'll think about it," Tim interjected, glancing at Mark.

Jeremy chuckled at the two of them. "And who's that 'we' you're talking about? I know there's a witch, too… is that it?"

"One thing at a time," Tim said.

Jeremy smirked back. "Fair enough."

After a moment of awkward silence, Mark asked, "So what do you think he meant? About having the 'power'… what did he call it again?"

"The power of the pieces of Eden?" Jeremy said. "I don't really know. It's a thing in my game, but… well, it's a game."

Tim frowned. "Like vampires and witches are stories?"

"What, you think it's real?"

"I don't know," Tim said. "It's worth looking into it. If he did have that power, what would it mean?"

Jeremy's expression suddenly grew serious. "Bad news. They can basically control people, among other things. They make miracles happen, basically."

Tim sighed. "Well, I'll look into the details myself, I guess."

Jeremy chuckled. "Sorry I can't be more helpful. See you tonight, I hope."


	7. Do You Remember Me?

Tim and Mark reported to Jenny and Jacob over lunch, telling them about their meeting with Jeremy, and explained how he had suggested they should attend the election of Miss Mystic Falls that night.

"A beauty pageant…" Jenny said, thoughtful. "After Ariana's election to prom queen, it almost feels like it's done on purpose."

"Does it really matter?" Jacob said. "I wonder why they want us to come, though."

"Me too. Are you sure he didn't say anything else?"

Tim shook his head. "But it's probably related to this Alex."

Jenny sighed. "I wonder if he's really working for the Organization…" She hadn't heard of them since the battle with the Cullens; the battle had weakened them, according to Jenny's mother. It could be that they had still been active under the radar, though, or that they were trying to use the Volturi's defeat for their own gain. _I will not allow it, she thought. I didn't take down the Volturi to let a bigger evil take over._

"Regardless, I don't think he's up to any good, if he helps a vampire who was feeding on people," Tim said.

"It's not enough," Jacob objected. "We need to focus on Sulpicia."

 _Do we, though?_ Jenny wondered. "I'll talk to Elena and Bonnie. We have PE together right after lunch. Maybe I can find out more."

The other three agreed with her, and they parted ways to their respective classes.

* * *

Jenny decided to waste no time with Elena. "Did your brother talk to you?"

The girl smiled at her. "Yes, he did. So are you guys coming tonight? I'm running for Miss Mystic Falls, you know."

Jenny frowned; she didn't really care about the pageant itself. "Why do you think something will happen there?" she asked. "And what do you know about Alex?"

"Don't get ahead of yourself," Bonnie intervened. Jenny hadn't noticed her sneaking up on them. "Who are you really?"

"We're— hunters, so to speak. We've tracked a vampire named Sulpicia Volturi all the way from Rome to here. Meeting you and that Alex was a coincidence."

Elena and Bonnie exchanged a glance. "Sulpicia, you say?" Elena said. Bonnie shook her head, urging her friend to say no more, but Elena ignored her. "We've heard of her. Well, my boyfriend has. He's a vampire too, and she's contacted him when she arrived."

"What did she say?" Jenny asked. "Do you know where to find her? Sulpicia is very dangerous. She's a witch, on top of being a vampire. She's burned out her own power, but she uses other witches to make up for it."

"Yes, we know all of that," Bonnie said. "She wanted me to join her, actually. I refused, though."

"And Stefan and I made sure she wouldn't be a threat. She vanished afterwards. But she's still in the area. Bonnie and her grandmother are too… interesting for her to leave. And there are always other witches coming in town from time to time. Like you."

 _So there's a grandmother too_ , Jenny thought, mentally taking notes. "All right. What about that pageant?"

"I'm getting to that," Elena said. "Alex has done something to Stefan's brother, Damon. At least we think so. He's… engrossed with him. Which, trust me, is really not like Damon at all. But it's been useful; we found out a few things about Alex this way. He says he's an assassin, for a start, and combined to what he told Jeremy earlier today, I'm not sure if he means the video game type or the actual type. But he's looking for Sulpicia too, for some employer. And he believes Sulpicia might show up at the election, and will attend to find her."

"It might end up in a fight, then," Jenny mused.

Elena nodded. "Alex's motives are still unclear, but his methods are obvious: he's up to no good. We could use your help. On one condition. You can do what you want with that Sulpicia, but leave the other vampires alone."

Jenny chuckled. "You mean your boyfriend, right? Don't worry about that. We don't kill vampires indiscriminately." Then, more softly, she added, "I dated one, too."

Elena looked incredulous, but she did not ask for more. "All right. We have a deal, then."

"I guess we do. See you tonight."

* * *

Jenny reported to the rest of their team as soon as she came back to the pension, explaining what she planned to do that night. Jacob, Tim and Mark had already agreed to come with her.

"That girl, Bonnie, she will be there too, won't she?" Lynne asked. "But we can assume that her grandmother won't."

Jenny glanced at him. "How did you find out—"

"Sheila Bennett," Jason added. "Bonnie's maternal grandmother, and a witch. Her only living relative, apparently."

"Yeah, that's what they said, too," Jenny confirmed. "That Bonnie and her grandmother interested Sulpicia. What about it?"

"Everyone seems to believe that Sulpicia will attend this event, for some reason," Jason resumed, "but she could also take the opportunity and try to get Sheila to her side, instead of Bonnie."

"Good point. Although Elena said there were other witches coming in town," Jenny argued. "It's more likely they go to that event too, isn't it?"

"I'm not saying that she _will_ go after Sheila, just that it's a possibility."

"And from her point of view, the safest one," Hugo said. "We should split up."

"I'll watch over Sheila Bennett," Jason volunteered immediately.

"Me too," Hugo added.

"I'd like to see that beauty pageant," Lynne said, "but you two" — she looked at Brian and Cassie — "should go with Jason and Hugo. We know Elena and her clique are in contact with Sulpicia, and that Alex will be there too; it's best not let them know our exact numbers just yet. Besides, we need an operational team at both locations."

"Fine by me," Brian said. Cassie nodded as well.

"Oh, about Alex!" Jenny interjected — she'd almost forgotten Elena's information about him. "Have you heard of 'Assassins' before, Brian?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. They're a society of killers working for the Organization. Why, you think he's one of them?"

"Apparently, he referred to himself as an assassin. And we know he has an employer, too. That's all I can tell you."

"It would make sense," Brian said, thoughtful. "And it would be evidence that he's working with the Organization."

"That doesn't change anything, though, does it?" Jacob asked. "We're going to be careful around the guy, but unless he calls for backup—"

"That's exactly why it can change something," Hugo said. "If he calls for backup, or someone decides they should send him backup regardless."

"Then we need to hurry to find Sulpicia," Tim said. "Before they get here. Before they find her."

* * *

Taking Elena's advice, Jenny forced the boys to get ready for the event by taking them shopping for formal clothes. Mark, surprisingly enough, was the most enthusiastic of  the three; but with his insistence on keeping his rainbow trench coat on, he was also the most difficult. Jenny couldn't quite ask him to leave it, though: the coat was enchanted, protecting against vampires' abilities, as well as some magic spells. It had already saved his life once, against Ariana. She understood that he would be attached to it.

There was something strange about doing such a trivial thing as going shopping. Everything normal felt strange to Jenny, recently. It was also refreshing, however. Getting to bug three boys, two of which — Tim and Jacob — had apparently little to no interest in fashion, was something she would have loved to do back in Forks, with Joan. They would probably have done it with their dates for prom, if either of them had gone.

Even nostalgia could not take down Jenny's mood as they proceeded. They eventually picked a charcoal suit for Mark, matching his eyes; for Tim, a pure black suit, mostly because he kept complaining about all the other options; as for Jacob, she got him a cream-colored suit. As for her own dress, Jenny almost let herself buy a particularly beautiful, strapless golden dress; however, it would impair her movements if she ever needed to run. Instead, she chose a red dress, which was divided in the front, allowing for more freedom of movement.

They were back at the pension just in time to get ready to leave for the event itself. They got dressed; Jenny hid her rapier with a spell, attaching it to her side, then helped hide Mark's guns and Tim's weapon of choice — a halberd, this time — similarly. She had developed that spell right before they boarded on the plane back to the States, and it had proven very useful since. It hid objects from most methods of observations unless Jenny specifically designed the spell to let someone see it. Witches, and, she guessed, some supernatural creatures would not be affected, but it was better than nothing. She just wished she could make it last longer than a few hours, as the spell was exhausting to cast.

Once they were ready and armed, they met up with Lynne, who had somehow found time to buy herself a simple, silver dress. Jenny knew that the detective used to be a contestant in beauty pageants similar to the Miss Mystic Falls election, when she was around Jenny's age, but this was the first time she'd seen her wearing a dress. She looked stunning in it, managing to make up for the simplicity of her gown and makeup with pure attitude. And yet, Jenny did not doubt she would be able to handle herself, if need be; Lynne never parted with her good-luck Beretta, and there was probably at least another few guns and stakes hidden on her person somewhere.

"The four of you go first," Lynne told them. "They already know you. I'll arrive a bit later; hopefully, this way, I can remain unnoticed."

"All right," Jenny said. "See you later, then."

* * *

"Was this really a good idea?" Becca asked Dan as they arrived at the mayor's estate, where the Miss Mystic Falls contest was held. 

She had already briefed him all she knew about the place: it belonged to a family suspected of being werewolves, the Lockwoods. No one had seen them transform in generations, leading whoever was in charge of watching them in the Organization to believe that the gene had been lost. It used to be a plantation, and was rumored to be haunted by ghosts of generations of slaves, but that theory had been disproved for sure. At the moment, it was the home of the family of all the mayors of Mystic Falls since its foundation. The large house, vast enough to qualify as a mansion, was its centerpiece, and the estate was large enough to hold this sort of social events, which nearly the entire town attended.

"To let this guy work here instead of forcing him to go back home and asking for a _real_ assassin? No, it wasn't a good idea," Dan let out.

"I meant us coming here. You're too exposed."

Dan sighed. "I know what you meant. But it's a good thing I decided we should come as well, because this Alex sure won't be of much help."

As soon as they had arrived, Alex had noticed one of his pet vampires dancing with a girl, grown jealous, and started prancing around with some other boy — human, as far as Dan could tell — like… well, like a teenager. Which, frankly, he was, just like Becca, and Dan was barely old enough to not be considered one. But they couldn't afford acting like teenagers; not while they were on a mission to capture one of the highest-ranking vampires left alive.

"What exactly are we supposed to do, though?" Becca asked. "You didn't tell me what your plans were."

 _Because I didn't have any_ , Dan thought bitterly. The witch girl, Bonnie, was right there in sight, seemingly oblivious to their presence, but heavily focused on Alex. She had tried to stand in his way earlier, but had been forced to back away; Dan doubted she wanted to reveal herself in such a large crowd.

But there was no Sulpicia in sight either. Unless she had managed to form an illusion powerful enough to disrupt Dan's equipment; but if she had, it meant she had found a new witch to drain, and that would mean their mission would likely end in a failure anyway.

He couldn't admit defeat. Not yet, anyway. He was the Leader; he had to keep up a strong façade at every moment. Grinning at his sister, he held out a hand. "Shall we dance?" Becca eyed him suspiciously, but silently took his hand and followed him.

Being in a central position on the dance floor did nothing to help: there was no ancient vampire lady anywhere. He hoped that she hadn't gone for the other witch in town; Alex's other pet vampire was watching over Sheila Bennett, but Dan wasn't sure that she would be smart enough to avoid engaging Sulpicia on her own, in spite of the direct orders she had received.

"She's not here," Becca said first. "She's not coming, is she?"

"Doesn't look like it, but we should stay alert. Sulpicia has to show up at _some_ point if she wants to get her hands on a witch, doesn't she? If not tonight, then some other time."

"I should have called backup. You're our Leader; you have better things to do than this…"

"The previous Leader had time to pretend to be Jesus for a little girl in Forks if it meant making an alliance with the Cullens," Dan retorted. "If somebody fails to understand how important this is, they don't have a place in our midst. But you're right: we should call backup. That Alex is not the Assassin I expected."

"Yeah, one is usually enough for this sort of mission." Becca sighed. "I'm sorry; I'm the one who talked you into letting him stay here—"

"I'll have none of this. You assumed that he would be as effective as any Assassin, and you had every reason to assume it. You're the one person I trust in the Organization; I know you didn't do this on purpose." Dan's half-smile did little to convey his emotions, but he couldn't muster up any more enthusiasm than that.

They were interrupted as another couple bumped into Dan. He ignored it, but Becca froze instantly, her eyes locked on to something behind Dan. Alarmed, he turned halfway, his training making him reduce the target he offered — and his instincts making him add more space between Becca and whatever scared her so much.

He was not prepared for what he saw. Right there, miles from where he had last seen her, was Jenny Donna, staring right back at the pair of them. And her dance partner, the one who had bumped into Dan, was Jacob, the only living werewolf that the Organization knew of. But not anymore.

Jenny's gaze turned into a glare. "We need to talk." She didn't seem surprised; Dan wondered if Jacob hadn't intentionally bumped into them. _Becca was right: I was foolish to go out in the open._

Dan kept his calm, at least outwardly. "Good evening, Jenny. Jacob. Yes, I suppose we do." He took Becca's hand and walked to the edge of the dance floor, then straight into the park around it, finding a more isolated spot. Predictably, Jenny and Jacob followed their every step.

"So we were right. The Organization was involved," Jenny said as soon as Dan stopped.

Becca gasped. "How did you know—" Dan interrupted her, but she had said enough, and Jenny's smile made it clear.

"Involved in what?" Dan asked. _Feign ignorance until you know what the other person knows_. Basic principle his father taught him long ago.

Jenny chuckled. "To answer your question, Becca: the Unit spotted your brother as he left town with Esme Cullen to join you in Rome. You both vanished just in time for the big battle, and then, finally, someone connected your parents to Organization members. I never thought I'd see you again, my dear _friends_." She spat out the word like an insult.

"I'm sorry about Joan," Dan said. "I didn't mean for her to die."

"No, you just meant to use her as a way to climb the ladder, and damn the consequences. Just tell me this: did it work?"

 _More than you can imagine_. "We're getting off topic."

"Are we? Since we're off topic, are you also going to try and kill my boyfriend again to enslave vampires?"

Dan couldn't help but chuckle. Esme Cullen and Dan's predecessors had both tried that: a werewolf's blood was supposed to let them change the curse that affected all vampires, and bind them to their will. "I'd need a witch to do that," he said. "Maybe you should ask your mother the same question."

Jenny flinched — as Dan expected. Next to her, Jacob asked, "Is that why you're here? Is that why you want _her_?"

Jacob's inability to hold back information would have amused Dan, in other circumstances. "Who are you talking about?" he asked, feigning innocence. Jacob's panicked glance got a chuckle from Dan. "No, that's not why we're after her. The blood of the last werewolf alive is what is needed for that spell, but Jacob isn't the last werewolf alive."

"So they would have sacrificed me in vain?" Jacob asked, fuming.

"It would probably have had _some_ effect, but not the one they wanted."

"Why should we believe any word you say?" Jenny said. She had placed a spell to prevent Jacob from lunging at Dan; thanks to his lenses, he could see it. It was very distracting, since he had to pretend not to notice it, lest he gave away the extent of his technology to the girl.

"You don't have to," he said, shrugging and turning to Becca. "We should leave."

"No, you won't," Jenny objected. "Stop eluding my questions and tell me what you're doing here, first."

Dan sighed. "Or else what?"

"Or else we'll ask the guy with a halberd behind you to knock you out." Dan turned around to find two more boys, the same age as Jenny and Becca. One of them, as Jenny mentioned, was carrying a halberd. He turned back to glare at her, but she smiled smugly. "So you _can_ see my spells. I wasn't sure. Now, where were we?"

Dan's mentally cursing for giving himself away was cut short by Becca's squealing. "We're trying to find Sulpicia! I'm sorry, Dan, but there's not point in dancing around it. Maybe we can work together?"

Jacob smirked. "I doubt that. We're no longer with the Unit, but we're not on your side either."

 _No longer working with the Unit?_ That could be interesting. "What are you going to do, then?" Dan asked.

Jenny ignored him and focused on Becca. "Alex is working for you, isn't he?" Becca nodded — the poor girl seemed both terrified and eager to make up with her old friend. She had not known about their family's involvement with the Organization, back then: their friendship had been sincere, even if it had had some help from Dan. "What will you do when you find her?"

That was no secret, and Dan was tired of lying. "Does it really need saying? Use her and take control of the European vampires. And probably a great deal of the ones in North America, too. And _you_ want to… let me guess: kill her?" Piecing the puzzle together was easy: they were _no longer_ working for the Unit, and them being on the search for Sulpicia such a short time after the rest of the Volturi was no coincidence. "Because you brought down the rest of the coven, and want to finish the job?"

Their face gave all the answers Dan needed. "You should reconsider," he said. "Vengeance won't lead you anywhere, and if I am to guess, the Unit has you in their crosshairs now. I can stabilize half of the supernatural world with Sulpicia: just help me find her."

"By 'stabilize' you mean 'enslave', so I think I'll pass."

Dan sighed. "Then this is going to be a race, isn't it?"

"I suppose it is. Or we could capture you right here and now, and ensure our victory."

"I don't think so!" a voice came from behind Jenny, almost a battle cry. Alex had finally noticed their absence, and he ran towards Jenny. Jacob attempted to stop him, but was caught by Damon, who leaped at him from the side.

Jenny, however, was far from powerless. She had probably already experienced the protective device Alex possessed, and did not try using her magic on him, but drew a long rapier and held him at bay. The boy holding the halberd rushed to help her, but Alex, for all his flaws, had spent his entire life honing his fighting skills, and was perfectly able to hold off both of them.

Dan turned to the last boy. He had drawn his gun, but seemed unsure whether to point it at Dan, Becca, or Damon, who was clearly superior to Jacob in battle, as the werewolf seemed unwilling to transform.

"Let us go," he said. "You won't want to shoot a mere human, will you? Think of all the attention you'll draw!"

There was a moment of hesitation on the boy's face, which was enough for Dan: he closed the distance between them, and used the taser strapped to his wrist to shock the boy. Then, as quickly as he could, he grabbed Becca's hand and ran off.


End file.
